Rising Oakland crime draws fervent pleas for city action

Emilie RagusoMay 31, 2023 6:00 AM

Violence against women was a recurrent theme throughout the night: "Women are being assaulted. Let’s not sugarcoat this," one woman said.

Rising Oakland crime draws fervent pleas for city action

Hundreds of people attended a community meeting at Oakland Tech focused on crime and violence prevention Tuesday night. Longfellow Community Association

Hundreds of Oaklanders demanded answers and action from city leaders Tuesday night amid recent sprees of violent crime that have increasingly targeted women.

"It's all women," said one local resident who described being attacked outside her North Oakland home earlier this month.

"Two kids beat the shit of me in front of my house last Monday night," she said. "Down on the pavement. Punching me, kicking me, dragging me through the street."

During the robbery attempt, she said, a teenage boy who tried to take her purse had body-slammed her. When he failed to take her to the ground, a teenage girl joined in on the assault.

"They did not get my purse. I have lungs. And my neighbors heard me and they came out," she said. "I’m almost 60 years old. I’m one of the old women that just got taken down. And it’s happening everywhere."

She said she'd heard about women in the hospital with concussions from similar incidents in Oakland.

In Berkeley, a woman in her 70s was recently attacked right outside the police station.

That followed a robbery outside Market Hall earlier this month where a woman in her 60s was attacked in broad daylight.

OPD announces arrest after Market Hall beating, robbery

North Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb is holding a meeting about crime and violence next Tuesday, May 30.

OPD announced arrests in that case and said it had linked the nine-person robbery crew — all children — to three dozen crimes. Within days, however, all but one member of the alleged crew had been released without charges.

Many of the people targeted during that robbery series were women who were violently assaulted and dragged by their hair, authorities have said.

Earlier this month, a woman in Berkeley was attacked, her head stomped by teenage girls, on her way to a memorial for Jen Angel. Angel sustained critical injuries during a robbery in Oakland in February and died days later.

Rising violence against women was a recurring theme throughout the night, although people also shared concerns about gun violence, property crime and encampment-related issues.

North Oakland has seen rising violent crime

Last week, OPD announced that the city had seen 100 robberies over a single week in May, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

And North Oakland alone, according to the Chronicle, "has seen a 22% increase in robberies over last year — from 101 reports to 123 — and an 18% increase in violent crime, from 211 incidents to 249."

North Oakland Councilman Dan Kalb, who organized Tuesday night's crime and violence prevention meeting at Oakland Technical High School, was joined on stage by OPD Capt. Jeffrey Thomason and Kentrell Killens, interim chief of Oakland's Department of Violence Prevention.

The officials spoke briefly to start the meeting, but members of the crowd — whose rage and frustration were on full display throughout the night — largely called on them to listen.

In addition to an estimated 200 people in the room, more than 100 people also attended the meeting online via Facebook. (The Berkeley Scanner monitored the meeting remotely as well.)

Local residents and business owners called for a stronger police presence and more funding for OPD in addition to stepped-up enforcement from the city and stricter penalties for those who break the law.

They also talked about long wait times to reach Oakland's 911 dispatchers and how long it can take for officers to respond — if they ever do.

Lisa McNally, a public school teacher and third-generation Oaklander, said OPD should resume writing tickets for low-level traffic offenses, starting with license plate violations.

"Don’t tell me it’s profiling — because you can’t even see who’s in the car," she said.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46376007)

Joseph R. Biden And Kamala D. Harris 617,659 79.83 %

Donald J. Trump And Michael R. Pence 136,309 17.62 %

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46376015)

all of the people complaining about this stuff support the political ideology, the political party, and the individual politicians and actors who carry out these policies. it doesn't matter how much crime is committed against them personally. they will always support libs, forever, without exception, period

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46376070)

I hope some “teen” smashes your mother’s head open on the pavement like a canteloupe.

No sympathy and no forgiveness for pro-crime voters.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46376079)

but the vast majority of it is sps. it's always been a Chocolate City. i like that character of it but the Teens these days are buckwild to the point that you can't be around them. i like to think the Black Panther / Soul Brother days were more civilized

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46376291)

I get back and friend asked if I left the car with a bag and a jacket in it. He laughed and said i got lucky. I thought he was being nuts. I park up the street and come back and the car across the street from his apartment had gotten broken in to in the 90 seconds I had pulled away and parked. Went to DT oakland for dinner and yeah it was worse than downtown LA or SF. Big red signs at the restaurant saying how dangerous the area was when they were leaving and that their car is pretty much liable to get completely stripped and sold while they eat their meal.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46378907)

the better question is what wouldn’t they tolerate

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46379641)

He said there is a street nearby that is lined with tables openly selling everything they steal from all the stores and cars.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46379409)

The US is in such a decline i honestly dont know if it can be saved with everyone at each other's throats all the time.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46382017)

The reason the DA is pro crime is because the poor's out number the whites and relate more to the criminals. Of course dumb ass white libs feel guilty about all the poverty right next to them and think by paying homage to Soros talking points they're absolved of their privilege. A lot of the blacks are chill, but it just takes 5-10% of them to wild out to turn this place into a Rwandan shit hole.

The whole place is run by emotional women and pandering men. Every stupid virtue signaling social fad gets big play here. BLM, Ukraine flags, trans kids, all very prominent.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46381964)

Sadly, UK had more freedom and is recovering psychologically better than the US when it comes to covid and masking and shit.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46382012)

"Look in direction of trans dad and say why? Puzzlement to me. Why do this? What mean? Trans dad married to whore and wants money. Why? Any good condos in Bratislava?"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5348577&forum_id=2#46383072)